Comin' Home
by bohemianBOOMAN
Summary: "Okay, how about," Santana stuttered a little, "how about the first time I told someone I loved you?" - Brittany's mum dies just after her 25th birthday and she wants Santana to tell her a story as a distraction. Brittana fluff.
1. Playing House  pt1

** A oneshot most likely. I will carry it on if people like it. Review and let me know.**

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Brittany and Santana had been together nearly ten years when Brittany's mother died not long after her eldest daughter's twenty fifth birthday. When Brittany had found out she locked herself in her and Santana's bathroom, slamming the door in her girlfriend's face.

"Go away, San. I don't want to talk about it." Santana could barely make out her words over the sound of her sobs.

"Fine, B." Santana had sighed as Brittany collapsed on the bathroom floor, her feet curled into her and her head near the door. Santana pulled out her BlackBerry, her second favourite thing in the world, and texted Quinn. Texting Quinn when something bad went down was something Santana would never have imagined doing a decade earlier. They had both down a lot of growing up since the days of being Cheerios and fighting for the attention of Sue Sylvester. They'd grown ridiculously close. She was one of the very few people Santana could trust.

Santana ran her fingers through her fringe, something she thought was going to make her look hotter but ended up being a gigantic pain in her ass. She then traced her hand back over her head and pulled out her hair band. She shook the stress of the day out of her dark locks.

She could hear Brittany crying, screaming even and she felt nothing but crap and useless. Santana had felt the same way since Brittany's mother had been diagnosed with cancer. She'd spent hours trying to discuss the 'what if' situation with Brittany.

"What if she doesn't get better, baby?"

"But she will, San. Don't be silly. That's why she's in the hospital."

Brittany had always been close with her mother, something Santana had both loved and envied. It did Brittany well, it meant Brittany always had someone, other than her, to talk to. Brittany liked to talk, so this was Santana's favourite part.

Almost an hour passed before the sobs quietened down and decided to knock again. Quinn had told her to be 'persistent but nice.' Santana had rolled her eyes at this; only Quinn could give such vague advice.

"Britt, can I come in?" Santana said as she tried pushing the door open. It was locked, as she had guessed. Her heart skipped a beat ten seconds later when the door swung open and she almost fell on the floor in front of her. Brittany would have normally found this hilarious, but instead, as soon as she saw Santana, she burst into tears all over again. Santana raised her arms and Brittany fell into her chest, soaking her top with her tears. Santana was scared, she'd seen Brittany cry so many times, but this was so much different, so much worse.

"Hey, hey, chica." Santana stroked Brittany's hair and kissed her temple.

"I'm here, hush, I'm here."

Time had passed and Santana found herself and Brittany in the bath tub. The very expensive bath tub Santana had worked her ass off to pay for. The bath tub that matched her tiles and mirror perfectly. The bath tub that had plenty of room for the both of them. Brittany lay between her legs, her head gently resting underneath under Santana's and their hands clasped together on Brittany's chest. Santana leaned her head down a little and kissed Brittany quickly.

"I'm so sorry, B." Santana stroked the side of her face.

"Why? You didn't do anything, did you?" Santana shook her head.

"No. I just, y'know, wish I could make it better." Brittany just smiled, for the first time that day. She leant her head up a little and kissed Santana's cheek before Santana turned her head and their lips collided.

"You are and I love you," Brittany said into the kiss, her words replied to with a simple 'mhmm' from her girlfriend. Brittany flipped over onto her front and lay her head on Santana's chest.

"Tell me a story. Tell me something about high school or, something happy." Santana laughed lightly to herself, reminiscing for a second about high school. She couldn't believe how far she'd come, how far her and Brittany had come. If only her sixteen year old self could see her now.

"We were happy at at high school?" Brittany splashed her girlfriend and said 'San' in her I-am-trying-to-be-mad-at-you-but-failing-and-just-looking-cute voice. At least, that's what Santana liked to call it. Santana wiped her face and smiled.

"Okay, how about," Santana stuttered a little, "how about the first time I told someone I loved you?"


	2. Skipping Out pt1

**_So, apparently people liked this so it is no longer a oneshot. I have another two chapters planned out after this one. Enjoy and review and check out my other Brittana fic 'Love Is Watching Someone Die.' I am paying far more attention to that one :')_**

**_Thanks for the reviews guys, it's the only reason I carried this on._**

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"Lopez, here," Santana scurried over to Sue Sylvester. The Sue Sylevester who left McKinley High two years after the gleeks to become cheerleading coach to the stars.

"Show me your necklace." Santana shifted, her coach towering over her.

"Er, I'm sorry," she was interrupted.

"Necklace: shiny thing around your neck, most likely made by Chinese children. Show it to me, now." Santana considered her options. She could run or make up some bullshit about it being against her religion to take it off. She considered every escape route possible before succumbing to the fact that there was absolutely no way of getting out of doing what Sue had asked. She reached her hands around to the back of her neck and unclipped the metal. She then brought it forward and dropped it into Sue's ropey hand. Sue fiddled with the chain for a few seconds before throwing it in the general direction of Santana's face.

"Just as I thought," she said looking down at her Cheerio. She then looked up and screamed Brittany's name into her megaphone. Brittany, beaming, rushed to Santana's side. She almost reached for Santana's hand before remembering what Santana had said about not doing that in front of Sue or, well, anyone. Anyone other than the members of glee club anyway.

"And take Portia with you. Both of you, out." Santana jumped in.

"But, you can't do that. We haven't done anything wrong." Sue just laughed.

"Of course you haven't, and George Bush was a good president. Get out of my site and I want both of you in my office tomorrow after your pathetic glee rehearsals. Bring Schuester." Santana just folded her arms as Sue walked off, yelling something at the rest of the squad. Brittany stood there looking more confused than usual.

"What happened, San?" Brittany asked. Santana shrugged her shoulders and pulled Brittany out of the gymnasium, her fingers wrapped around her wrist.

"It was, it was nothing. She just didn't like my necklace." Brittany looked confused again. She really wished people would start telling her the truth and stop making her look so silly.

"That's not the truth, is it? Not all of it anyway," Santana half smiled. "She didn't like your necklace because it has my name on it. That's right, isn't it, San?"

"Yeah, B, that's right, but whatever, screw her. I'll sort this." So Santana did, or at least, she tried to.

...

Glee the next day was bound to be humiliating for Santana. She knew that everyone would know they'd been kicked out of practice yesterday and she'd have to ask Mr Schue for help. She was not looking forward to it.

"Hey, Mr Schue, can I talk to you?" Santana asked. He looked puzzled. The majority of conversations he had had with the cheerleader had been because he had broken up a fight she was in or Rachel had once again complained about Santana constantly insulting her. She had never once asked for his attention or help.

"Oh, yeah, of course, Santana. What is it?" Santana jumped up and sat on the piano, the rest of the glee kids distracted with things that did not interest her one bit. Brittany was dancing with Mike and Tina, Quinn was making out with Sam and, well, everyone else was boring.

"Brittany and I have to go see Coach Sylvester after this and she said you have to come too." Now Will was really confused.

"She kicked us out of practise yesterday and I think she might kick us off the squad. She seemed really pissed." Santana's blood began to boil and her skin got hot. She could absolutely in know way be off the team. Not after everything she had done to get there.

"What, why?" Will cocked his head. He couldn't think of any reason for Sue to want to get rid of Santana and Brittany. Theywere Santana and Brittany. Brittany was probably the best cheerleader and dancer in the squad and Santana was just as cunning as Sue was. They were two of her favourites. Then he thought about it. _They were Santana and Brittany_.

Santana just looked at Schue. For the last twenty four hours she'd been going over comebacks to this question but nothing seemed to come out. Santana did not want to spell it out for him, everyone else in glee had noticed, so he must have. She rolled her eyes.

"Actually, don't worry about it." She said, jumping off the piano.

"No, don't worry. I'll be there."


	3. Skipping Out pt2

**Okay, so somehow this chapter got a little out of control and is twice the size of the others. Go figure.**

**I really should've cut it into two but I couldn't find the right place to do so.**

**Also, the end of this chapter literally gave me nightmares. I swear this story is the worst thing I've ever written.**

**Try to enjoy and reviews will get the last chapter up quicker ;)**

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Sue tapped her pen against her desk. The gentle drumming scratched the inside of Santana's ears, making her nerves stand on edge and her fists clench. It was really irritating.

"Well, Sue. You called us here and I'm sure Santana and Brittany have better things they could be doing right now, I know I sure do..." Will Schuester trailed off quitely.

"You're off the squad. Both of you." Santana's mouth dropped open. She knew her coach was probably going to say this, she had no other reason to call them into her office, but the reality of it hit Santana a lot harder than she'd anticipated. There was a few seconds silence before Sue piped up again.

"That will be all. I know it might be hard to see past William's hair but that, my young lesbians, is a door. I strongly suggest you use it."

"Fuck,"

"Santana!" Will commanded.

"No, shit, she can't do this! I have worked my ass off to stay on the Cheerios. I did extra hours in the gym, I stopped eating anything with more than three calories. Jesus, I even brown-nosed Quinn. We haven't done anything wrong." Santana stood up resting her hands on Sue's desk and clenching her fists.

"This isn't fair."

"Oh, life isn't fair. Wise up." Sue chuckled. "Oh, and you very much have done something wrong. You've broken rule after rule here, first with your pumped up melons and now fornicating with another cheerleader. Well, I just can't allow it.

"Screw you, that is not your issue."Santana yelled as Will stood up and put his hand on her shoulder. Will could tell that at any second she was going to blow up.

"What about Kurt? He was a Cheerio. He was gay. Britts and I aren't." Sue stood up and faced her student.

"One, you're a liar and two, Kurt wasn't sleeping with another girl. Though, I'm sure everyone would be able to sleep better at night if he had been." Brittany didn't like it when people yelled and she certainly didn't like it when people made her feel like she'd done something wrong. Brittany was sure she wasn't doing anything wrong. She liked Santana, well loved Santana and Santana told her she liked her. What was wrong with that? She couldn't understand how this effected her cheering. Brittany definitely did not like the shouting at all, one bit.

Within the seconds it took for Sue and Santana to stand off, Brittany had run out of the room and without hesistation, and mumbling something angrily in Spanish, Santana ran after her.

"Really? You're really going to do this, Sue?" Will looked at her, the back of his hand wiping his brow. Sue sat down and placed her feet over her desk.

"Absolutely."

...

Will Schuester knew Sue Sylvester was vindictive but he never regarded her as stupid. Stupid was exactly what she was being. She was cutting off her nose to spite her face, or something like that. He stopped her in the hallway at lunch. If she was being stupid he was going to make the most of it and stand up for a student whilst he was there. Emma seemed to notice him more on the days he seemingly cared about his pupils.

"Hey, Sue." He called as she knocked a slushie out of Karofsky's hand.

"Now clean it up!" She walked over to Will. "Oh, hey there William. Your hair is looking extra terrible today."

"I spoke to Santana's parents." Sue stopped, her face dropping and her eyes widening.

"What?"

"About her and Brittany getting kicked off the Cheerios. Felt they had a right to know. I told them exactly why, and well, let's say, they weren't best pleased with the way their daughter has been treated."

"I am pretty sure that violates subsection three of your contract, William." Will raised his eyebrows teasingly.

"I am pretty sure I don't care, as I'm sure Santana's parents won't either when they sue." Will skipped off, knocking on Emma Pillsbury's office window and waving as he did. Will hadn't spoke to Santana's parents, which made him all the more smug as he left the scene. He wouldn't have believed himself, so why did Sue?

"You can't sue, Sue!" The cheerleading coach yelled after him, before throwing Jacob into his locker.

...

Sue had tried to avoid thinking about the issue and it didn't rise in reality until the next day; however, every time her office phone rang or Figgins walked past she jumped ever so slightly out of her skin. Not that she'd ever admit that to anyone but herself or her diary. The diary she was writing in when Santana knocked on her door the next day.

"Oh, if it isn't Rosie O'Donnell herself. What can I do for you, other than of course, give you the name of my exorcist?" Santana wasn't good at talking to people. She could shout, she could scream, she could manipulate, but she couldn't just talk. She wasn't good at begging either, so she was not looking forward to this conversation. Santana sat herself down, she felt this would show some sort of deep set control over the whole thing, over her life.

"You can't kick us off, you can't replace us, we're too good."

"No one is irreplaceable." Santana considered her words before blurting out the first thing that sprung into her head.

"I am. Quinn is. You let her back after she won slut of the year." Sue went to say something but Santana got there first.

"You can't take nationals without B. Please," Santana lowered her voice, "please don't do it to Brittany. She's like, the best dancer in this whole school. You couldn't do half of your jumps without her." Sue knew the young latina had a point, Brittany was really good.

"Fine. Brittany is back in, which wouldn't be a problem if she could function properly without you besides her." Santana tore her nail down the edge of the chair. She took a deep breath in, trying to let go of the sudden need to punch her coach in the face.

"What, what did you just say?"

"Look, Santana. Everyone knows that Brittany cannot function properly without you hurrying after her. I can't have someone like that on my squad. I need quick fire Cheerios." Santana's mind flipped and started rambling on it's own.

"Don't fucking speak about her like that."

"Excuse me?"

"I said, don't you fucking speak about her like that" Santana pushed herself up and kicked her chair out behind her. "Just because you're a lonely, miserable bitch doesn't mean you get to treat everyone else like shit." It was at this moment that Santana had forgotten whether she was addressing herself or Sue.

"I am not old!" Sue rose to Santana's level. "I could have you expelled!" She screamed. Neither Sue or Santana can really remember how what happened next happened, but it did. Santana didn't know how to control what came out of her mouth.

"I love her! Shit, okay. I love her and you can't kick me off of the squad for being in love." Santana froze for a few seconds before launching Sue's pencil holder against the wall and slamming the door as she left quickly. Sue was sure she was crying.

Now, Sue Sylvester was not a bad person. She knew people were people and she knew that she'd have to be a bitch to get what she wanted, Madonna had told her so. However, Sue had also been known to love. Rarely, well, once, with a strange man who bought her a drink in a Vegas bar in '88. To Sue, love showed weakness. Somehow though, the way Santana had just expressed it had made Sue's heart flutter. She considered briefly that maybe she was having a heart attack. Sue wasn't stupid and she like Santana, she reminded her of herself and she knew the reason Q and the latina fell out so much was because they were so alike and determined. Sue would never admit that she was in love, if of course she was, or that she was even capable of feeling such erratic and stupid emotions. The reality of it all told her Santana wouldn't usually do that either. Sue found herself surprisingly impressed. Both by Santana's bite (throwing stuff in Sue's office was most definitely daring) and by the girls defeat. Sue liked a little defeat, made you come back twice as hard.

"Hey, S." The door swung open as Santana pushed her forehead against her cold, metal locker and tried not to have a panic attack in the corridor.

"You're back on; just, just don't be telling people it wasn't without a fight. A whole lawsuit and everything." Santana looked up to where Sue was standing. She mouthed the words 'thank you' but just as Sue was about to reply three giggling Cheerios walked past. Just what Santana had wanted to avoid, being the school's talking point, being the next in line for a slushie facial.

"Dry cleaning duty for three weeks, Ellen!" Sue screamed at the latina, before winking at her and shutting the door.


	4. Playing House pt2

**Okay, so I literally uploaded this, wrote a blurb about how this is the last chapter and then saved it, ready for it to be put up as chapter four. Then I suddenly had some weird inspiring idea.**

**I'm not sure if it'll be a sequel to this or a new chapter, so take this at face value for now but I am going to carry on in this beautifully Brittana future universe. Anyways, review this and tell me what you thought (shabby ending, I know but there is more coming now so, yay!)**

**Oh and apologies for the terribly late reply. It is exam season over here in England.**

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"So, how is she taking it?" Quinn asked. She rubbed the lipstick mark she had left on her coffee cup. She was sat at Santana's table whilst Santana sat on her kitchen counter, her legs crossed and her hair rebelliously draping over her face.

"Shit. Like, really shit. I don't know, Q." Santana jumped of the counter and poured herself another cup. She knew Quinn thought she was avoiding the subject; she wasn't, she honestly didn't know.

"She, she cries a lot. Well, like all the time."  
"Yeah, well, we knew that'd happen. It's normal, inevitable. She'll be fine, you know?" Santana ran her hands through her hair.

"Yeah, I know, eventually." She thought back to the conversation she had had with Brittany about high school and the soulless being that was Sue Sylvester.

"Just makes you want to go out and live a little." Quinn

"I was thinking, the other day, about McKinley." Santana whispered. Quinn laughed as she stood up and walked over to Santana's freezer, pulling out a tub of ice cream and ripping off the lid.

"And why on Earth would you do that?" She said, dumping the spoon she'd fished out of the sink into the ice cream and swallowing it back.

"That place was Hell. Sue was a bitch. Schue was an idiot and quite frankly I can't remember anyone else." Quinn shoved some more ice cream into her mouth and slid the tub across to Santana's thigh.  
` "Eat up, fatty."

"Do you have any regrets? Like, anything you wish you hadn't done at high school?" Quinn looked blankly at Santana, tapping the spoon against her hand.

"There is only one thing I regret. The emphasis on the word 'thing' made Santana's spine tingle; she regret asking that question.

"Point," Santana jumped off the counter and filled her and Quinn's coffee cups once again, before strolling into the living room as Quinn trailed behind.

The both slung themselves onto separate sofas. Quinn sat neatly; legs tucked perfectly underneath her. Santana, on the other hand, lay across a sofa by the window, her legs lazily falling off the edge and her coffee cup balancing on her stomach.

"I kinda wish I'd been more honest." Santana said.

"Yeah, we probably could've all done with some of that." Quinn had barely finished her sentence before Brittany came in the front door, slamming it shut and throwing her bag on the floor. She stumbled into the living room where she was waved at by a smiling Quinn, who stood up and hugged her.

"Hey, Brittany, how are you feeling?" Quinn whispered into her hair.

"Fine, better. 'Kay." Brittany muttered and flashed pretence through her teeth at the other blonde. Brittany looked over at Santana, who was staring, deep in thought, at her. Santana placed her coffee on the floor and without moving from her shaggy position, raised her arms so Brittany could fall on top of her. So Brittany did, her whole body lay parallel to Santana's, her head resting on Santana's temple.

"Well, I'm going to go, but I'll be there Friday, okay?" Quinn said and gestured at her phone and then to Santana; they were getting good at girl code. Friday was the funeral. Santana had asked Quinn to come, one because she was their closest friend and secondly because she knew she wouldn't be able to hold herself together when Brittany broke down. She wouldn't be able to keep it together long enough to make sure Brittany didn't fall apart.

"I'll call you," Santana yelled at the door is it shut quietly.

"So, how was your dad?" Brittany said nothing but Santana felt her shrug. Santana repeated the question, but this time in regards to her girlfriend's sister. She received the same reply.

"You know you can talk to me about it, B, right?" Brittany wiggled down Santana's body until her body was perfectly kept between her legs and her head rested on her chest. Brittany liked being able to hear Santana breath when she spoke.

"Yeah, I know." She whimpered. "You know you don't have to worry about me, though? It's not your fault, San. Stuff happens and it makes people feel bad but I have you, even if I don't have my mum anymore. You always tell me how you'll do anything to make me happy, so I guess I'm just gonna have to trust you." Santana smiled, before delicately whispering 'I'd do anything for you' too quietly for Brittany to register.

Santana retraced her earlier steps and conversation, as Brittany fell asleep on top of her. Quinn had been right; life was too short. Santana thought about Brittany, thought about what she'd found with Brittany. Maybe it would be too crass to say 'every cloud had a silver lining,' Santana though, but Brittany's mother passing had opened Santana's eyes to a lot. It allowed her regret to flood back into her brain. The regret that she spent so long being unhappy as a teen, the regret that it took forever for her to say three simple words to Brittany and the regret that she hadn't asked Brittany to marry her three years previously when she first bought the ring that sat underneath the twelfth floorboard in their closet. It shocked her, how stupid she could be. Santana would never regard herself as an idiot but now she felt like one, like she'd taken everything she had for granted. Now she was ready to change, she was sure of it.


End file.
